Local theaters showing 'Not Today'

A 20-year-old American rich kid travels on a whim with three friends to India and wakes up in a slum after a night of heavy partying.

Sounds like a film in "The Hangover" franchise.

Instead of driving stolen police cars and retuning Mike Tyson's tiger, the main character in this new movie meets a hungry Dalit girl and her father living in squalor. He later learns that the girl was sold into slavery. This family's life is similar to some of the 250 million Dalits in India who often live in abject poverty.

"Not Today," produced by Friends Church of Yorba Linda, premiered Friday in a limited number of theaters across the country. It will be distributed on DVD by Lions Gate Entertainment.

"If this could take off, this (film) could be the way to spread the word about Dalits who are living in slavery today and that we can do something about it," said Matthew Cork, the lead pastor for Friends Church.

In 2008, the church's media director at the time, Jon Van Dyke, and the film's producer, Brent Martz, brought the idea for the movie to Friends' leadership. Ticket sales would raise money for one of the church's ministries; Friends has made a $20million commitment to build 200 schools for Dalit children in India with the help of a nonprofit group, the Dalit Freedom Network.

Cork said he believes he was called by God to take up the cause of the Dalits. The group is considered on the lowest rung of Indian society and is called unclean by many in the country's entrenched caste system. Cork has traveled to India and seen the poverty in which Dalits live.

The tribal leaders had asked for financial help to give Dalit children an education. Cork inspired the Friends Church congregation to help build schools and end trafficking of Dalit children in India.

Getting the film to the theater has not been easy.

There is a federal lawsuit concerning it.

Van Dyke is suing Friends Church and distributor Lions Gate Entertainment, alleging that the church fired him after filming and refused to pay for his services on the film. Cork would not talk about why Van Dyke left the church.

The movie has won awards at social-justice and faith-oriented film festivals such as the Justice Film Festival, Peace of Earth Film Festival and the Pan Pacific Film Festival.

Most of the 2-hour movie was shot over five weeks in India. A few shoots were done at Cork's Yorba Linda house and at another house in Newport Beach.

The initial request to make the moviewas between $750,000 and $770,000, said Traci Tront, executive pastor of church operations at Friends. That budget was based on other independent Christian-based films such as 2008's "Fireproof," which cost $500,000 to make, Cork said.

But Friends Church's staff quickly found that filming "Not Today" would be vastly more expensive than other Christian movies.

Filming in India presented numerous challenges, including acquiring permits and following laws that required local film crews be hired, Tront said. This demanded extra time and money that church officials did not expect when they sent a cast and crew of about 30 people overseas.

"We were very passionate that this film had to be filmed where the Dalits were," Tront said. "I know there were challenges put on us just by being in India by the government agencies."

One scene that was particularly difficult to have Indian authorities sign off on was the train scene. The main character, Caden, screams while hanging off the side of a locomotive in the Indian countryside. Church employees worried that the crucial scene might not make the film.

In the end, "Not Today" cost $1.6million to shoot, church officials said, adding that they do not know the total for post-production work, so the movie's final cost is unknown.

Proceeds first will go to cover the church's costs. The rest will go to the Dalit cause.

The film has done well at the box office, Tront said Tuesday, and "Not Today" will be added to more theaters.

"We think it has been an amazing weekend, and it's actually gone beyond our expectations," she said. "It's just been exciting to sit in a theater that is full and packed."

Who are the Dalits?

Friends Church has committed to helping the Dalit Freedom Network and Operation Mobilization in India to build 200 schools for Dalit children over the next 10 years.

At about $100,000 per school, construction efforts are a $20million initiative. Ticket sales from "Not Today" will go to building these schools, hence the film's mantra: "Your ticket in is their ticket out."

Danielle Sisk, the national director of student advocacy for Dalit Freedom Network's American branch, explained why the Dalits need help:

•They often live in extreme poverty.

•In India, Dalits live in tribes mostly in rural parts of the country, but some live in slums on the edges of large cities.

•Although their population is estimated at 250million in India, Dalits are considered on the lowest rung of Indian society. They are considered unclean by many in the country's entrenched caste system, and they live in de facto apartheid.

Operation Mobilization in India is a Christian ministry that is building schools with the money raised by Friends Church of Yorba Linda and the Dalit Freedom Network. It has been working in India since 1964.

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